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Topic Review (Newest First)

12-04-2012 11:25 AM

charles_r_cox

I don't know about doing parks this season, but it is possible. Personally I wouldn't worry about the park, when I switched I started with a wide and slightly larger board, my focus was on stabilization (the thing was a beast to pop when I took it into the park), and on your next board I would move to a smaller more maneuverable board.

On your bindings I like the Rome bindings myself (pretty happy with my experiences with them).

Good luck on the switch, and hopefully your tailbone doesn't hurt as badly as mine did in the beginning.

hey im not sure if you read what I said but my best friend is a certified instructor so im getting lessons everytime i go for free. hence why im not saving for them dont wanna sound snarky

Fair enough, and good for you. Still the advice stands that the board and bindings are among the least important aspects of your set-up.
Your instructor friend should be able to advice you, but generally speaking look for a soft to mid flex board, twin or slightly directional, and probably around 155 or so in length (could be shorter if you are dead-set on park riding). Even as you progress, that will make a serviceable park deck.
For bindings, get whatever fits your boots (which you should buy first and from a qualified shop, ideally one with a boot fitter) and feels comfortable.

Really don't want to throw cold water on your excitement, but really for a beginner (and frankly many, intermediate riders) the gear is pretty much irrelevant. TBT and other technologies are particularly irrelevant for first-time riders. Bindings even less so - a roll of duct tape would work.

The general advice is to rent or get whatever you can find in you size second-hand and invest the savings in lessons.
Also, it is entirely possible that as you become more experienced and progress in your riding that your focus/style changes - you might discover that you prefer big mountain/backcountry riding over park, etc.

Again, I do not want to come across as discouraging (cool that you are getting into snowboarding!), but gear should be one of your last considerations.

One exception to the above: Get well fitting boots! From a store (preferably a proper board/ski store), not from a mass retailer let alone online. Proper fitting boots are hands down the single most important piece of equipment that you can get. Next are padding and safety gear plus a decent jacket and pair of pants (you might have something usable from your skiing days already).
Everything else can come (much) later.

here in ontario you can only discover that you prefer big mountain/backcountry riding through process of elimination of everything you get in to ride in Ontario

that said the advice above is the truth, your priorites are:

1) helmet
2) boots
3) lessons
4) any board or bindings that are cheap, doesn't matter at first

if you go regularly you can certainly expect by the end of your first season to be playing around on small park features, my 10 year old was out weekends and holidays last year, her first season, and she was hitting small features by end of year, little rails and baby jumps and so on

If you think that park is where you want to go get a used board that is park oriented, ride it everywhere on the hill, but don't be afraid to get something all round and ride it everywhere including the park.

just becuase you where 12 shoes doesnt mean you should wear 12 boots... try to size down. then youll have less worry about the wide board.
goto a local shop and tell them. Have them size you up for boots. If they only ask your shoe size. insist to be sized.

Okay great I want to do that asap so I know how the dimensions of my boots are and how they would sit thanks for the advice.

Really don't want to throw cold water on your excitement, but really for a beginner (and frankly many, intermediate riders) the gear is pretty much irrelevant. TBT and other technologies are particularly irrelevant for first-time riders. Bindings even less so - a roll of duct tape would work.

The general advice is to rent or get whatever you can find in you size second-hand and invest the savings in lessons.
Also, it is entirely possible that as you become more experienced and progress in your riding that your focus/style changes - you might discover that you prefer big mountain/backcountry riding over park, etc.

Again, I do not want to come across as discouraging (cool that you are getting into snowboarding!), but gear should be one of your last considerations.

One exception to the above: Get well fitting boots! From a store (preferably a proper board/ski store), not from a mass retailer let alone online. Proper fitting boots are hands down the single most important piece of equipment that you can get. Next are padding and safety gear plus a decent jacket and pair of pants (you might have something usable from your skiing days already).
Everything else can come (much) later.

hey im not sure if you read what I said but my best friend is a certified instructor so im getting lessons everytime i go for free. hence why im not saving for them dont wanna sound snarky

12-04-2012 10:52 AM

zk0ot

just becuase you where 12 shoes doesnt mean you should wear 12 boots... try to size down. then youll have less worry about the wide board.
goto a local shop and tell them. Have them size you up for boots. If they only ask your shoe size. insist to be sized.

12-04-2012 10:50 AM

hktrdr

Really don't want to throw cold water on your excitement, but really for a beginner (and frankly many, intermediate riders) the gear is pretty much irrelevant. TBT and other technologies are particularly irrelevant for first-time riders. Bindings even less so - a roll of duct tape would work.

The general advice is to rent or get whatever you can find in you size second-hand and invest the savings in lessons.
Also, it is entirely possible that as you become more experienced and progress in your riding that your focus/style changes - you might discover that you prefer big mountain/backcountry riding over park, etc.

Again, I do not want to come across as discouraging (cool that you are getting into snowboarding!), but gear should be one of your last considerations.

One exception to the above: Get well fitting boots! From a store (preferably a proper board/ski store), not from a mass retailer let alone online. Proper fitting boots are hands down the single most important piece of equipment that you can get. Next are padding and safety gear plus a decent jacket and pair of pants (you might have something usable from your skiing days already).
Everything else can come (much) later.

12-04-2012 10:38 AM

Ksonn

New boarder in need of advice

Okay so I have yet to snowboard at all but I have skied before once and i was able to pick that up fairly quickly but that was years ago.

live in ontario so it will be mostly groomed runs and I dont know whether it is realistic or not for me to think I will catch on fast enough to do any park riding this season but I am fit and athletic and I have a good sense of my balance from things such as BMXing skateboarding and some wakeboarding. so really I wanna be able to ride park but if not at the least be able to butter around and have fun but my goal is to get into the park and that's why im trying to get a solid set up for myself now so i don't need to later before I get told I don't need nice stuff to learn

I am 6,1 175 lbs size 12 regular US SHOE I have yet to try on boots so i didnt want to confuse anyone so that's all i can say at this moment

now I was looking at Bataleon boards and I thought the TBT was interesting and seemed like it would be an advantageous thing to learn with.

my friend is a instructor here and he is going to teach me how to board this season he rides an evil twin 157 so that is how i found out about bataleon but he was in no way pushing me to ride one in fact he was hesitant at first but I did some reading and it could prove good.

now it is a matter of which bataleon to get for what I have said I don't know if I need a wide or not and if that will feel too clunky I know it depends on boots too so any sharable wisdom would be appreciated. I was looking at the global warmer but only because its almost like an evil twin but I like the graphic a million times better.

Also binding recommendation would be great bindings i have been looking at are the union contacts rome 390 boss and a bit into switchbacks but im not sure about them.

Thank you for reading my post I am sorry if it was long a little long winded your time is appreciated